Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté, great canadian composer

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Neural Network
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Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté, great canadian composer

Post by Neural Network »

Hi,

I searched the Canadian Music Center about S-C Eckhardt-Gramatté (1901-1974) and found that a lot of her music has never been published.

I would be pleased if I could find the piano sonatas and the caprices for solo violin. The first three piano sonatas were composed before 1924.

Here is the english wiki article about her. I could get the scores of the sonatas and other master-works of her for (almost) nothing by travelling to Toronto and Montreal, where the master copies of her works are kept (In the CMC buildings). But I live in France and it could be onerous. =)

With all my thanks to the person who will give me more informations. I modified the Wishlist and added S-C Eckhardt-Gramatté.

Long life to the IMSLP.
ThaSchwab
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Post by ThaSchwab »

Even if the works were published before 1923, which I doubt there were a lot, she only died 34 years ago.
Neural Network
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Post by Neural Network »

The first 3 piano sonatas were not published before 1923, they were not published at all. They were composed before 1924. But I think you'r right, as she died 34 years ago, the only mean to get the scores would be to buy a cheap print copy from the CMC. I am mailing the CMC to ask for more informations.
Carolus
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Post by Carolus »

Unpublished works in Canada are protected completely. The clock starts running only upon publication. IMSLP will gladly post the works here if her heirs grant permission.
von.wichert
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Post by von.wichert »

S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté (1899-1974) composed seven piano sonatas:

No.1 (1923)
No.2 "Biscaya Sonate" (1923-24)
No.3 (1924-25)
No.4 "Die Befreite Sonate" (1927-31)
No.5 "Klavierstueck" (1950)
No.6 "Drei Klavierstuecke" (1928/51/52)
No.7 (1968)

Sonatas 1 and 5 were published in her lifetime. Here's the bibliographical information:

Fridman-Gramatté, Sonia. Sonate (I) pour piano. Berlin: N. Simrock, 1924.

Eckhardt-Gramatté, S.C. Klavierstück (Sonate Nr. 5). [Vienna]: Internationale Gesellschaft für neue Musik Sektion Österreich, [1950].

N. Simrock and Eschig published a number of her piano and solo violin works in the 1920s, under "Fridman-Gramatté", an earlier version of her surname. The International Society for New Music, Austrian Section published her 5th Piano Sonata in 1950, just as her career was taking off in post-war Austria.

The 7th Piano Sonata is a fragment. Only two-thirds of the first movement were completed. It has never been played in public or recorded.

A point to keep in mind: Eckhardt-Gramatté was constantly revising her compositions, sometimes decades after having composed them. In later years she felt self-conscious about the romantic "excess" of her youth. As a result, a few of the sonatas exist in different versions. She often changed the harmonies to be more dissonant.

For example, if you know Marc-André Hamelin's recording of the 1st Piano Sonata, the dissonant cadence at the end of the first movement was added around 1972! The 5th Sonata was revised in 1965, 1969 and 1974, and the later versions have newly composed music that doesn't appear in the 1950 printing. It's a complicated picture.

You can order prints of just about any composition by Eckhardt-Gramatté from the Canadian Music Centre, using a credit card. If you are located close to a large music school or university library (chances are good in North America, Europe and Australia), they may have The Selected Works, a 23-volume set of manuscript reproductions of just about everything she composed. Volume 17 of the Selected Works includes the 6 Piano Sonatas, and is the edition that Marc-André Hamelin used for his recording on Altarus Records.

Brandon University School of Music Press sells reasonably-priced editions of her 10 Violin Caprices and 6 Piano Caprices. Unfortunately, her work is not out of copyright (in North America) until 2024.
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